[News] 'Israel' threatens to genocide Gaza if Hamas refuses disarmament

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--threatens-to-genocide-gaza-if-hamas-refuses-disarma>
'Israel' threatens to genocide Gaza if Hamas refuses disarmament
Al Mayadeen English
February 16, 2026
------------------------------

“Israel” threatens renewed war on Gaza if Hamas refuses to disarm within 60
days, as Israeli attacks continue amid the fragile ceasefire.

   - [image: Palestinians mourn over the bodies of their relatives killed
   in an Israeli strike, during their funeral at Nasser Hospital in Khan
   Younis, Gaza Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP)]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2026/2/16/6fa997df-7df3-4ce3-83dd-d0f9e93e5155.jpg?width=1000>
   Palestinians mourn over the bodies of their relatives killed in an Israeli
   strike, during their funeral at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza,
   Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (*AP*)

Senior Israeli officials have threatened to renew the genocide in Gaza if
Hamas does not disarm within a proposed 60-day period, although the Israeli
occupation continues its attacks on the Strip daily
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ongoing-attacks-on-gaza-prove--israel--disinterested-in-truc>,
never adhering to the ceasefire agreement.

Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, said that the occupation government intends to give Hamas two
months to relinquish its arms. If it does not comply, the Israeli military
would “complete the mission” in Gaza, she threatened.

The warnings came against the backdrop of the US-led "Board of Peace"
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/trump-announces--5bln-in-gaza-pledges-ahead-of--board-of-pea>,
under which Washington dictated the 60-day deadline.

According to Fuchs, Hamas would be required to surrender all weapons,
including small arms such as AK-47 rifles. He emphasized that the Israeli
regime would evaluate the outcome at the end of the period.

Netanyahu also reiterated that disarmament must include small arms,
claiming that such weapons were used during the October 7 operation.
Israeli officials allege that tens of thousands of rifles remain in Gaza.

Reports in *The New York Times* suggested that a draft proposal discussed
by US mediators could initially allow Hamas to retain some small arms while
surrendering weapons deemed capable of striking “Israel". The document is
reportedly expected to be shared with the Palestinian Resistance in the
coming weeks.
Devastation and aggression despite ceasefire

Despite the ceasefire agreement, officially effective as of October 11,
2025, the Israeli regime has maintained its occupation of vast areas across
the Gaza Strip, and continues to attack the Palestinian territory's
infrastructure and civilians.

Since then, over 591 Palestinians, including women and children, have been
killed, and more than 1,598 others have been injured.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 72,051 Palestinians have been killed
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--kills-9-palestinians-on-day-128-of-the-ceasefire-in>,
and over 171,706 have been injured, making the war on Gaza one of the most
brutal in modern history.  Many victims are still in dire need of
treatment. However, hospitals across Gaza have been systematically targeted
over the past three years, forcing operations to minimal function,
sometimes to a halt.
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